Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to plasma devices and processes for surface processing and tissue removal. More particularly, the disclosure relates to a system and method for generating and directing chemically reactive, plasma-generated species in a plasma device along with excited-state species (e.g., energetic photons) that are specific to the supplied feedstocks for treating tissue.
Background of Related Art
Electrical discharges in dense media, such as liquids and gases at or near atmospheric pressure, can, under appropriate conditions, result in plasma formation. Plasmas have the unique ability to create large amounts of chemical species, such as ions, radicals, electrons, excited-state (e.g., metastable) species, molecular fragments, photons, and the like. The plasma species may be generated in a variety of internal energy states or external kinetic energy distributions by tailoring plasma electron temperature and electron density. In addition, adjusting spatial, temporal and temperature properties of the plasma creates specific changes to the material being irradiated by the plasma species and associated photon fluxes. Plasmas are also capable of generating photons including energetic ultraviolet photons that have sufficient energy to initiate photochemical and photocatalytic reaction paths in biological and other materials that are irradiated by the plasma photons.
Chronic sinusitis originates from several sources including, but not limited to, infection by bacteria that may form biofilms, fungus that can form large fungal masses within the sinus, allergic reactions to infecting agents, chronic viral conditions such as HPV, and combinations thereof. These sources create inflammation in the sinus cavity that result in eosinophils, which in turn concentrate in the sinuses creating even greater inflammation and the degeneration of the mucosa into polyp formation and weakening of the underlying bone mass. Over time the sinuses cavities fill with foreign material or polyps that originate from the mucosa that lines the sinus cavity. Conventional treatments strip the sinus cavity of all mucosa, which results in the sinus lining reforming from scar tissue rather than epithelial mucosa. More conservative conventional treatments focus on removing the bulk of the material while attempting to preserve as much mucosa as possible. The preferred surgical tool for sinus surgery is a microdebrider available from many manufacturers and well known in the industry. These devises have no tissue selective properties and cut the softened bone equally as well as the overlying tissue using mechanical cutting.